We are all too familiar with the ‘eat five a day’ phrase. Yes, we’re talking about fruit and vegetables. We are told time and time again how important it is to get your five a day for a thriving body and mind and the stats do back it up. Eating more vegetables reduces heart disease, obesity, type two diabetes and can even protect against certain types of cancers. So it’s a no brainer really – but how can you actually get more fruit and vegetables in your diet?

1. Make fresh juices and smoothies.

This is such an easy win when it comes to getting a large hit of fruit and veg into your system AND tastes delicious. For ultimate veggie hit, go for a green machine packed with spinach, kale, avocado, apple and ginger. Or if your palate prefers something sweeter, blend some berries with mango, almond milk and honey. Essentially – any combination works, so have fun experimenting and enjoying so much vitamin goodness!

2. Replace carbs with vegetables

Another very easy change that you could make to your favourite meals. Replace pasta with courgetti or another vegetable spiralised – butternut squash works particularly well too. Swap in your potatoes for a big pile of greens – perhaps steamed kale, spinach and chard sprinkled with sesame seeds! Instead of rice, why not chop up lots of colourful root vegetables and roast them in the oven with herbs and olive oil. If you find that vegetables don’t fill you up as much as carbs, remember you can eat MORE veg! Low calorie content means more free reign to eat the vegetables you love – winning!

3. Create delicious salads

Explore salad options – there are thousands. Whether you’ve got a warm salad, cold salad, dressing or no dressing, I think you’ll be surprised at how many options there are out there. Salads can be made up of so many elements; we’re not talking lettuce and a bit of cucumber here! Roasted vegetables could compliment a bed of spinach with sweet balsamic vinegar. Or crispy kale with chestnuts, bacon and roasted sweet potato. Try any combo with any dressing and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds for a speedy iron hit.

4. Eat vegetables that are in season.

Every month there are particular fruit and veg, which are ripe, ready and in season. Essentially – they are at their prime! The best seasonal veg in January and February are carrots, kale, cabbage, leeks, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. These alone provide so many vegetable options – cauliflower rice for example or sautéed cabbage and kale with garlic.

5. Find different ways to eat old favourites.

Sure you like potatoes – but have you tried straying away from your usual boiled pots and making them into a delicious salad with herbs and cherry tomatoes? You might be a fan of cucumber, but have you thrown them together with sweet orange pieces and roasted nuts in a salad? There are so many ways to eat your favourite veg. Go out of your way to find out how you could eat them differently! Think outside the box!

6. Make sweet treats with a dose of fruit and vegetable.

This is a sneaky way to get the good stuff into your body. I recently whipped up some brownies and chucked in a punnet and a half of raspberries. Simple!!

7. Eat chunk dips

I am obsessed with a chunky guacamole or salsa. If you make these dips fresh, they are PACKED with vegetable goodness. Make a guacamole from scratch with avocado, limes, ground pepper and cherry tomatoes or cut up beef tomatoes to create a salsa. Don’t stop there – you could also make your own beetroot dip or hummus.

8. Go vegetarian one day a week

This will force you to be more creative with your vegetables! Cook up a vegetarian alternative to your favourite meal, such as curry or shepherds pie. Cut out the bacon and sausages in your morning breakfast and replace with mushrooms and tomatoes. Go veggie for the day and you’ll be full of way more than your five a day!!

9. Try vegetables you’ve never eaten before!

Have you ever cooked with chicory, radishes, turnips or artichokes? Those are just some of the more unusual vegetables but it could be as simple as eating an aubergine if you’ve never tried one before. Open your taste buds to more veggie variation!

10. Add spinach

You can add spinach to pretty much anything to boost your vitamin intake. Smoothies, pasta, breakfast, curries, stews, salads – you name it, you can add it!

You may be the right weight for the amount of toxins in your body and without the protection of fat your vital organs could be poisoned. Fruit and vegetable phytonutrients enable the liver to function correctly and eliminate poisonous waste.

With the Transform30 30 day kickstart programme you can help to heal your body :-

“A person who has too many toxins to process will make new fat cells and store those toxins along with fat in them. This is first a form of self-defense against being poisoned, and second, a strategy to get toxins out of the circulation and away from major organs. This means that some people will not be able to lose any weight at all, regardless of how little they eat, until the acute nature of their plumbing problems are addressed.

It is very clear that these toxins are released back into the circulation during weight loss. This is especially the case during significant weight loss26. During a weight loss of 12 percent of body weight toxins in the blood increased 23 percent – 51 percent, with the heaviest individuals releasing the most toxins27. Over a one year period of weight loss toxic exposure ranged up to a whopping 388 percent. Scientists have shown that such toxins can interfere with thyroid hormone28 function during weight loss. Human data shows that as the toxins go up in the blood during weight loss the levels of biologically active thyroid hormone (T3)29 go down. This data means that your plumbing and detoxification systems must be in good working condition for healthy weight loss – or possibly even to engage weight loss.

Toxins make you feel irritable. Many people report feeling “poisoned” at a certain point in their weight loss process. Such people will always feel better when they eat a lot of food, as the toxins are pulled out of their blood and placed back in fat – along with plenty of fat. With a little effort, most people can readily lose weight they have most recently gained. After that, people reach what I like to call it the “toxic plateau.” This means that detoxification strategies may need to be adjusted if weight loss slows too much or stops. In my clinical experience, the difficult-to-lose pounds are typically toxic fat. Strategies to improve detoxification often enable weight loss to proceed. While overweight people who struggle to lose weight with a good diet and exercise have this problem to some degree, those who are the most overweight experience this issue to a greater degree.”

Yet another January? Feeling discouraged before you begin? Wondering what everyone else is expecting of you? Make this year different and easier for yourself. Join our fresh start, detox, clean eating, exercise regimes. Not a bootcamp – unless that is what you want – but a tailor-made, individual programme suited to your pocket; time-frame; abilities and other commitments.

After just 2 years of taking Juice Plus+ Premium I feel as if i’m firing on all 4 cylinders. I have more energy, am more alert, have a stronger immune system, hair and nails are growing more strongly – and these are just the things I’m aware of. Research also shows all the vascular and internal factors that are improved by taking Juice Plus+ eg reduced body-fat and blood serum homocysteine levels.